ChrisWinter.com reviews Patriot Acts
"There is a battle to be joined in this country, just not the one so many are waging. When rhetoric and ideological warfare threaten the very pillars of our democracy, true patriots must act." - Page 5
Jan 06, 2012
ChrisWinter.com
January 6, 2012
Catherine Crier's latest book reveals her once again as one of the most insightful and honest journalists in America today. Looking over the current federal political system in this country, she documents its abysmal failure at reining in the excesses of the corporate elite. Although Republicans, since the time of the Reagan administration, are chiefly responsible for this monumental mess, Democrats too bear a large portion of the blame, for all politicians depend on donations from large corporations to cover the costs of their increasingly expensive campaigns. The money buys influence. We see the results not only in Congress, but in court decisions which more frequently favor the corporations.
The corporations, for their part, pony up the donations willingly. They know these are among the canniest investments they can make.1 The same is true for lobbying, and expenditures in this area have ballooned in recent years, mostly coming from the coffers of big business.
Ideology is another factor. Conservative Republicans incessantly chant the mantra of small government and free markets under threat from "tax and spend liberals" who seek to stifle business and reduce individual liberty. That mantra is a tissue of lies; but, backed up by a nationwide media network owned largely by conservatives, it has been very effective in campaigning. And once in office, they steadfastly cling to their platform of reducing taxes on the wealthy and freeing business from burdensome regulations.
The results of that program are all around us today: Forty million Americans on food stamps, while a small segment of the population commands an ever-growing share of the nation's wealth. The jobs that wealth is supposed to create, per GOP doctrine, fail to appear: Unemployment stubbornly remains high. Wall Street has recovered nicely, thanks to government bailouts; Main Street, not so much.
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Jan 06, 2012
ChrisWinter.com
January 6, 2012
Catherine Crier's latest book reveals her once again as one of the most insightful and honest journalists in America today. Looking over the current federal political system in this country, she documents its abysmal failure at reining in the excesses of the corporate elite. Although Republicans, since the time of the Reagan administration, are chiefly responsible for this monumental mess, Democrats too bear a large portion of the blame, for all politicians depend on donations from large corporations to cover the costs of their increasingly expensive campaigns. The money buys influence. We see the results not only in Congress, but in court decisions which more frequently favor the corporations.
The corporations, for their part, pony up the donations willingly. They know these are among the canniest investments they can make.1 The same is true for lobbying, and expenditures in this area have ballooned in recent years, mostly coming from the coffers of big business.
Ideology is another factor. Conservative Republicans incessantly chant the mantra of small government and free markets under threat from "tax and spend liberals" who seek to stifle business and reduce individual liberty. That mantra is a tissue of lies; but, backed up by a nationwide media network owned largely by conservatives, it has been very effective in campaigning. And once in office, they steadfastly cling to their platform of reducing taxes on the wealthy and freeing business from burdensome regulations.
The results of that program are all around us today: Forty million Americans on food stamps, while a small segment of the population commands an ever-growing share of the nation's wealth. The jobs that wealth is supposed to create, per GOP doctrine, fail to appear: Unemployment stubbornly remains high. Wall Street has recovered nicely, thanks to government bailouts; Main Street, not so much.
Read More